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Research Paper

Ethanolamine enhances adhesion, promotes microcompartment formation, and modulates gene expression in Levilactobacillus brevis ATCC 14869

Polycronis P. Akourisa Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;b Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3214-6130 View further author information

Gerrit A. Stuivenbergb Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada;c Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Western University, London, ON, Canada

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5002-8560 View further author information

John A. Chmielb Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada;c Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Western University, London, ON, Canada

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6324-2777 View further author information

Wongsakorn Kiattiburutb Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada;c Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Western University, London, ON, Canada

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8608-891X View further author information

Annabel Poonb Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada;c Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Western University, London, ON, CanadaView further author information

Gregor Reidb Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada;c Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Western University, London, ON, Canada

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9658-5696 View further author information

Jeremy P. Burtonb Canadian Centre for Human Microbiome and Probiotics, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada;c Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Western University, London, ON, Canada;d Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, Western University, London, ON, CanadaCorrespondence[email protected]

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3591-6436 View further author information

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ABSTRACT

Ethanolamine is an abundant compound in the gastrointestinal tract and a valuable source of carbon and nitrogen for pathogenic bacteria harboring ethanolamine utilization (eut) genes. Eut-positive pathogens can consume free ethanolamine to outcompete commensal microbes, which often lack eut genes, and establish infection. Ethanolamine can also act as a host recognition signal for eut-positive pathogens to upregulate virulence genes during colonization. Therefore, reducing free ethanolamine titers may represent a novel approach to preventing infection by eut-positive pathogens. Interestingly, the commensal microorganism Levilactobacillus brevis ATCC 14869 was found to encode over 18 eut genes within its genome. This led us to hypothesize that L. brevis can compete with eut-positive pathogens by clearing free ethanolamine from the environment. Our results demonstrate that despite being unable to metabolize ethanolamine under most conditions, L. brevis ATCC 14869 responds to the compound by increasing the expression of genes encoding proteins involved in microcompartment formation and adhesion to the intestinal epithelial barrier. The improved intestinal adhesion of L. brevis in the presence of ethanolamine also enhanced the exclusion of eut-positive pathogens from adhering to intestinal epithelial cells. These findings support further studies to test whether L. brevis ATCC 14869 can counter enteric pathogens and prevent or reduce the severity of infections. Overall, the metabolic capabilities of L. brevis ATCC 14869 offer a unique opportunity to add to the armamentarium of antimicrobial therapies as well as our understanding of the mechanisms used by beneficial microbes to sense and adapt to host microenvironments.

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

PPA, JAC and JPB conceived the study idea. PPA, JAC, GAS, WK, and AP developed and carried out the physical experiments. PPA, JAC, GAS, and WK performed the computational analysis. PPA wrote the original manuscript and designed the figures. All authors contributed critical feedback and helped shape the research, analysis, and final manuscript.

Data availability statement

Illumina RNA sequencing reads can be found in NCBI under BioProject accession number PRJNA1001957.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Ethanolamine enhances adhesion, promotes microcompartment formation, and modulates gene expression in Levilactobacillus brevis ATCC 14869

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Ethanolamine enhances adhesion, promotes microcompartment formation, and modulates gene expression in Levilactobacillus brevis ATCC 14869

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